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Q & A (continued) the darker color only in the recesses and crackles. The colored glaze is then sealed in with a coat of clear lacquer. The second way to age paint, lacquer or another coating ma- terial, such as shellac, is more complicated and takes a more sophisticated touch. This method, which is closely akin to false graining, uses a colored ground coat, which is then covered with various layers of glaze applied by brush, rag, sponge, feather, airbrush, or spattering, depending on the texture you want. Glazes applied with crumpled paper, rag or sponge produce a finish that resembles leather. Spatters are typically applied by running your thumb over a stiff toothbrush loaded with glaze, but go easy. There's nothing worse that a piece where someone went spatter-happy. You can apply several colors of glazes, although apply them one at a time, and let each layer dry thoroughly before applying the next layer. While wet, each coat can be partially removed with rags, brushes or feathers to simulate certain effects. Thin glazes on high points of an object show wear, for example, while thick coats indicate dirt accumulation. You can also simulate extra-heavy wear by sanding some areas down to the bare wood. Go easy and sand only those areas where the object would naturally be subject to heavy wear. All the glazes should be sealed with clear lacquer, shellac, or varnish. Usually, a sealer with a satin or flat sheen looks best. [Robert D. Mussey ]r. is head furniture conservator with the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in Waltham, Mass.] Beau BelaJo nas replies: Another way to get a crackled finish is to apply a coat of varnish and wait three to four hours. Then, mix a l-to-l solution of shellac and denatured alcohol and apply this mixture over your varnish. As the mixture reacts with the varnish, it will produce uneven cracks and alligator skins. If you want larger cracks, apply the shellac/alcohol mixture sooner. For smaller cracks, apply the mixture later. Needless to say, experiment first on scraps to determine the timing needed to achieve the desired look. It's a quick and simple technique, but it gives satisfactory results. [Beau Belajonas is a professional wood finisher in Camden, Me.] Air-dried or I bave been carving B/4 red oak to make lB-in.- to 42-in.diameter circular medallions for tbe interior of a local restaurant. Tbe medallions bave a raised border and lettering, and a background tooled witb concentric circular gouge cuts. My tools are extremly sbarp, yet I find it tougb going wben carving cross-grain on tbe background. Even a sliCing motion as I pusb tbe gouge doesn't belp_ I've been told tbat air-dried wood is easier to carve tban kiln-dried. Sbould I switcb to air-dried wood? -Robert C. Kingborn, Excelsior, Minn. kiln R. Bruce Hoadley replies: Since your medallions will be hung indoors, I recommend you carve kiln-dried stock with about an 8% moisture content. Dry oak, being hard and dense, is understandably a challenge to carve. If you used air-dried wood with a higher (15% to 20%) moisture content, the wood would be slightly weaker and softer, and probably much easier to carve. However, with the air-dried stock, you would run the risk of Significant dimensional changes (and probably warping and cracking) after installation, as the moisture content of the medallions dropped to reach equilibrium with the interior environment. For example, a 44-in.-diameter medallion glued up from air-dried flat-grained red oak could shrink as much as 2%. This would mean a grain diameter. My advice is to continue with the kiln-dried stock and keep your tools sharp. [R. Bruce Hoadley is professor of wood science at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.] Ys 16 Fine Woodworking in. decrease in the perpendicular-to-the-dried for carvers? Shaping convex moldings A priest from a local cburcb asked me to reproduce some molding on an old grandfatber clock, but I'm a little bit stumped about bow to do it. I did tbe concave section by running tbe stock at an angle over my tablesaw, but I'm not sure bow to get tbe outside curvature. No doubt tbe original was cut witb some kind of planer or sbaper, but I don't bave tbat kind of macbinery. Can I do tbe job witb just my 1 0-in. tablesaw? -CL Ketterer, Zelienople, Pa. Nonn Vandal replies: The molding in your sketch was cut by a cornice plane, which had its sole and iron specifically shaped to cut this style of molding. Repeated passes with the plane removed more and more material until the full molding profi le was created. These old planes are scarce collectors' items today. Consequently, only a few craftsmen have been lucky enough to find them at affordable prices. Making the angled cove cuts on a tablesaw is an effective way to shape the concave portions, as you have discovered. Using dif- ferent angles, as well as various sizes of sawblades will result in a whole gamut of concave shapes and sizes. Making the convex portion can be equally straightforward. Remove as much material as possible with a series of rip cuts on the tablesaw, then use a block or smoothing plane to bring the shape as close to the finished dimension as possible. After planing, use a scraper to round off the contour, then complete the operation with sandpaper, working progressively from coarse to finer grits. If you are replacing a portion of molding that abutted a mi- tered section of an original segment, cut the miter on your new molding stock, then trace the molding shape on the new piece, as shown above, before you try to shape the molding. This trick will prevent you from removing too much material, which will ruin the fit and tempt you to reshape the old molding to fit the new one at the jOint. From a conservation ethics point of view, reshaping the old molding should always be avoided. [Norm Vandal makes period furniture and architectural furnishings in Roxbury, Vt.] Bandsawing a tight radius I bave a Sears l2-in. bandsaw witb an 7;-in. blade, and I can't cut a tigbt radius in 1 Yz-in.-tbick wood. I've seen products witb Similarly tigbt curves at craft fairs, so possible. Do I need a more powerful motor or would you recommend anotber macbine? 1 shouldn't have any problem contour cutting in B;'-in. stock once the machine is properly set up. The primary component of quality cutting is your blade. Choose a Ys-in.-wide blade with a skip-tooth configuration, I� HP) -Jamie Jackson, Tampa, Fla. Rich Preiss replies: Having used a Sears 12-in. bandsaw many times, I suspect your problems don't stem from the machine or its motor, but rather in your blade selection and guide setup. The Craftsman bandsaw is a very adequate tool and its motor (probably may be slow on the feed, but you know it's